Friend
by Genis Irving
Summary: Raine suddenly falls ill at Altessa’s, and Lloyd follows Genis and Mithos as they try to find a cure, to an unexpected discovery... A novelisation of a famous game scene... though with an addition or two! Contains Shonen Ai (Genis x Mithos)


Title: Friend  
Fanfiction Of: Tales of Symphonia  
Author: Genis Irving  
Rating: PG  
Disclaimer: Umm... ToS isn't mine, though if things work out right, I MIGHT own a copy of the ToS soundtrack, the fact is that I don't own anything out of ToS and don't claim I do. Don't sue. You won't get anything anyway.  
(PS: Though I'm pretty sure that my little pet Genis is mine, I don't claim complete ownership of him. Okay, so maybe I won't let anyone else come within 15 feet of him, but I still don't claim ownership...)  
Warnings: Shonen-Ai, meaning 'Boy's Love' (You have been warned! If you blame me now that you know this, you will be repeatedly bitten by my pet Genis)  
Summary: Raine suddenly falls ill at Altessa's, and Lloyd follows Genis and Mithos as they try to find a cure... Novelisation of a famous game scene... though with an addition or two... Contains Shonen Ai (Genis x Mithos)  
Spoilers: Umm, kinda, but only if you haven't seen this scene. Nothing serious, I should imagine. If you've met Mithos, you'll be fine. The final paragraph, which is in italics, does hint at events that follow this, near the end of Disk 2, so PLEASE be careful about reading that bit!  
Author's Note: I HAD TO WRITE THIS! Ever since I saw this scene (at 2 in the morning) I needed to write this little fic. Besides, this is MY version of the scene – meaning it shows something that I thought really was seconds away from happening in the game.  
  
_!!! If you're looking to find this scene in the game, by the way, play to Disk 2. Just before you go to Tethe'Alla's Tower of Salvation after obtaining Zelos' Cruxis Crystal, head to Altessa's. When given the choice, make sure to follow Genis and Mithos. This scene is highly entertaining, incredibly kawaii, and it also gives Genis the 'Friend' title !!!_

_(PS: I'm currently holding a random Shonen-Ai based contest-type thing while looking for new pairings... – go check out my Author Profile for details! Genis Irving)_

--Friend--

Having decided that it might not yet be quite time to head towards destiny, the group has decided to take a pit stop at the house of the dwarf Altessa. The morning following, they hope to finally fulfil their destiny. This day, after all, could possibly be the last one they spent living...

"Mithos! Hi!" Genis chirped, as everyone entered the building.

The blonde boy looked up from the book he was reading and smiled at Genis. "Oh, hey! Genis! You did come and visit!"

"Yup!" Genis smiled, as Altessa and Tabatha approached from the side room, curiously.

"Why have you all come here?" Altessa asked. "Weren't you going to head to the Tower of Salvation? That's what I heard..."

"We will" Raine nodded. "It's just that we need a place to stay the night. We want to be fully rested and prepared before we head there."

"Yeah, so a place to crash would be great" Zelos grinned, and Sheena sighed beside him.

"Treat him with a bit more respect, Zelos" Sheena sighed.

"It's no matter. You are more than welcome here."

"Yay!" Genis smiled, looking over at Mithos, who seemed equally happy.

"Okay" Raine nodded, stepping forward.

And promptly falling forward, suddenly unconscious.

"What the...?" everyone was startled out of their happy mood by the Raine's sudden collapse. Genis, Mithos, and Lloyd ran towards her side.

"Professor, are you alright?" Lloyd asked, to receive no response.

"She's got a fever..." Genis noted as he looked at Raine, and with Lloyd's help they rolled her onto her back. "Take her into the bedroom..."

"That's one good fever..." Zelos noted. "Never seen anyone faint because of a fever before..."

"Me neither. I hope this is not serious" Regal stated.

"Affirmative" Presea agreed, as they all walked into the room.

"What do you think is wrong with her?" Genis asked, worry plated across his face at his sister's sudden illness. "Is it really a fever? We need a doctor!"

"There's one in Flanoir!" Sheena perked up quickly.

"There's one in Altamira" Zelos said, at practically the same time. They both glared at each other, annoyed.

"Ah, so then, shouldn't we split up?" Regal suggested. "That way we can get both."

"Sure, why not?" Zelos shrugged.

"Yeah, sounds good" Sheena agreed.

"Well, then, I'll take Colette and Presea" Zelos smiled. "Comeon, let's go!" The two remaining females nodded and walked out of the room with the redhead, and Sheena started fuming.

"Hey! He took all the girls with him! That creep!" Sheena pouted, before turning to those who remained. "Regal, why don't we leave for Flanoir?"

"Of course" Regal nodded, and the two left, leaving the two young boys, as well as Lloyd, Tabatha, and Altessa.

"We'll watch over her" Lloyd said, as he turned to Altessa. The older dwarf nodded in agreement, then left.

Mithos shook, worried. "Poor Raine..."

"I'll watch over her. You two try and go calm down" Lloyd smiled. "Go outside and play or something."

"B-But... Raine is..." Genis protested.

"You need to unwind a bit, Genis" Lloyd said, looking at his best friend. "So go on."

"Okay!" Genis nodded, and he pulled Mithos outside with him, as Lloyd remained inside.

"...Genis... I know what's wrong with Raine" Mithos said, startling the other boy, the moment the door had shut behind them.

"Y-You do!?" Genis jumped, surprised and excited.

"Yeah. It's a fever that's been spreading recently. It's very bad" Mithos shook his head. "But there are flowers on the Fuuji mountains that can be used to cure it."

"Thank god..." Genis sighed. "Let's go get Lloyd and get them!" Genis said, as he ran towards the door, but Mithos grabbed onto his shoulder. As Genis turned to look at Mithos, for a moment he thought he saw desperation, but it was replaced by some unfathomable expression.

"Nah, actually, Genis... I... kinda thought that you and me could go together" Mithos said. "Just the two of us."

"Just the two of us? Ah... I guess so" Genis nodded. "There's still a couple Rheiards, we can take them."

Not moments after their departure, Lloyd walked outside, to find that everything was much too silent. Where were they?

Lloyd looked around, then up. He saw, in the distance, a single Rheiard flying in the sky. "Oh, where are they off to? Guess I'd better follow them..."

Lloyd smiled to himself, then walked over to the last remaining Rheiard and taking off into the sky.

"Where are they headed? ...Looks like the Fuuji mountains" he reasoned, quickly.

As Lloyd landed and ascended part of the trail, he listened for any sign of the two boys. There was no sound coming from above or below. Where could they be?

He turned towards the bottom of the trail, and spotted two figures just beginning to climb. He wondered idly how he had possibly got there before the other two boys, but decided not to ask, and instead he quickly dived behind a large boulder.

As the two came towards him, he could hear them talking.

"So where are the flowers?" Genis asked.

"They grow on the summit of this mountain" Mithos told him again, as the remained oblivious to Lloyd presence.

A large figure moved next to Lloyd, blocking the path between the large boulders.

"Ahh! It's a monster!" Genis exclaimed, looking at the large skull-like monster in front of them, blocking their path. Mithos jumped back, quickly hiding behind Genis.

"What are we gonna do?"

"We have to fight! Raine needs us!" Genis proclaimed boldly, looking at the monster, and drawing out his Kendama. "Fireball!"

A spray of three fireballs shot from the tip of the weapon. Two struck the stones on either side of the boulder, and one landed right at the monster's feet.

_"I missed? Oh no!"_ Genis thought to himself.

And then suddenly, the monster crumbled and fell apart.

"...?" Genis blinked, wondering what had happened, curiously. He walked towards where the monstrous skull had been, seeing the fragments disappear into thin air. He looked around, failing to spot Lloyd, who was hiding in the shadows, barely breathing.

"You did it, Genis!" Mithos cheered, running up behind Genis.

"I... did?" Genis blinked again, confused.

"Yeah! Your spell must've hit it!"

"Ah... yeah!" Genis smiled, trying to put on a proud face. "Come on, let's get those flowers."

"Yeah!"

Lloyd grumbled. All that work... But Genis would kill him if he knew he was currently spying on them. He headed up towards the top of the cliff.

As Lloyd reached the summit, the two boys were once again nowhere to be found. Idly he wondered how he had passed them on his way up, before he dived behind a boulder as the sound of footsteps approached from the path he had climbed up.

Mithos let out a small squeak of joy. "Hey, look, there's the flowers!" he pointed towards the boulder Lloyd was hiding behind. Lloyd plastered himself flat against the large stone, opting to simply listen to the voices of the boys behind him, as they started gathering flowers from the base of the boulder.

"Are these it?" Genis asked, as he picked up some yellow-stemmed flowers.

"Yeah" Mithos smiled. "That'll be more than enough!"

"Okay! Let's go then!" Genis smiled, as he started to walk away.

"...Ah, Genis, wait..." Mithos said, and Genis stopped and turned. Cautiously, hoping neither boy would see him, Lloyd peeked out around the edge of the boulder to watch.

"...Umm... Genis, I... kinda need to tell you something" Mithos said.

"What, Mithos?" Genis asked, blinking.

"I... really like being your friend" Mithos smiled softly.

"Huh? What brought that up all of a sudden?" Genis asked, slightly confused, but happy.

"Well, you know, that's kinda why I wanted to come here with just you..." Mithos smiled. "So we could have some time together..."

"Ah... You know what? I like being your friend too, Mithos" Genis smiled.

Mithos smiled back, before a slight blush crossed his pale features. "Umm... Genis, a question... umm... if me and Lloyd got into a fight, who would you side with?"

Genis blinked twice, thinking on that one. What a sudden, strange question to ask! Not far from him, Lloyd was thinking the same thing. Just what exactly was Mithos getting at?

"Well, ah..." Genis thought aloud, as he tried to answer. "You know... it'd all depend on what it's about. But I don't think you'd start a fight over something stupid, so it'd probably be you."

"Really?" Mithos smiled, happily.

"Yeah" Genis nodded.

Lloyd was fuming, behind them, angry. He thought to himself, _"What's that supposed to mean exactly, Genis?"_

"Genis, I..." Mithos stepped a bit closer to his lilac-haired friend. "Umm... I... need to ask you something else, too..."

"What?" Genis blinked. He was, by this point, puzzled about being questioned so suddenly, but he didn't mind. Mithos was his friend, after all.

"Umm... is it okay if I stay with you forever?"

"What?" Genis was taken aback by the question, but his thoughts were quickly belayed by Mithos' interjection.

"I mean, ah, I'm your friend, and... I don't wanna get separated, so..." Mithos stuttered out, barely meeting Genis' eyes for an unknown reason, his face reddening just a bit more.

"Sure!" Genis smiled, happily. "Of course we can stay together forever!"

"Is it okay if I take that seriously?" Mithos asked, stepping forward.

Genis' response was instantaneous. "Yup"

Genis didn't realise just how close Mithos had got during this time until he felt the lips of the blonde boy on his own. For just a moment, he was frozen by an emotional surge of confusion, but then it faded; as Mithos gently wrapped his arms around Genis, the smaller boy practically melted into Mithos' arms and his kiss, as they both shut their eyes.

Lloyd's eyes, on the other hand, were opened in pure shock. His mouth fell open in a quiet gape, and his body refused to move as he saw his best friend getting kissed by another guy. _Okay, this is just weird_, Lloyd thought to himself. He was tempted to stop them, but the fact was that Genis would have never looked him in the face again if Lloyd revealed himself to have been spying that whole time.

Besides, the young boy seemed happy. Genuinely happy.

A moment later, flushed, the kiss was broken and the two boys looked into each other's eyes.

"...Mithos, why did you just..."

"...Genis... Umm..." Mithos was suddenly overcome by a furious blush, and he pulled away, releasing the younger boy from his grip. "We... ah... should be going back to Raine... umm..."

"...Umm... yeah" Genis was just as flustered as Mithos was. As they walked away, however, they held each other's hand.

Lloyd kept standing there, trying to get his body to work, recovering from the shock of what he had just seen. Finally, he managed by telling himself quite convincingly that Genis would be happy like that.

And with that, he hurried down to get back before the youth so they wouldn't find his Rheiard.

As Lloyd returned, he saw that Raine was up and happy, and that everyone was gathered.

"Where have you been, Lloyd!?" Sheena demanded. "Leaving Raine behind like this, almost unattended!"

"But Altessa was..." Lloyd started.

"Leaving a sick woman behind. Shame on you" Presea stated.

"But I didn't, there was..." Lloyd tried to stammer out.

"It's a good thing Mithos and Genis found the cure" Regal sighed.

"Yes. Thank you, boys" Raine smiled.

"It was nothing" Genis flushed a bit, shifting uneasily.

"Guys, don't be so mean!" Colette perked up. "I'm sure that Lloyd was doing his best to find the cure too!"

"Uhh... yeah" Lloyd nodded. He felt quite uneasy, so he turned and stepped outside.

A moment later, Genis joined him.

"Oh, hey, Genis" Lloyd smiled.

"...It was you, wasn't it, Lloyd?" Genis asked, startling the other boy.

"What do you mean, it was me?" Lloyd blinked.

"You're the one who helped us on the Fuuji mountains, weren't you?" Genis asked.

"...Yeah" Lloyd admitted. "Sorry."

"Thanks" Genis smiled, looking back towards Mithos, who was busy talking with Raine. "...Thanks a lot for helping me back there. I mean it."

"...You okay, Genis?"

"Yes, I am" Genis smiled, looking at Lloyd, seeing the knowing look on the older boy's face. He had expected that Lloyd knew now. "I'll be fine..."

"Okay. Just... don't let him break your heart, okay?"

"I won't" Genis promised.

_I could hear you talking. Oh, Genis... what did I do to you? I don't want to hurt you, but now... now... you will find out and... I'm sorry, Genis. I'm very, very sorry, for what I will have to do to you... because I know you will find out, because you're smart like that._

_...I should never have shown you how I felt... Because truly, I don't want to hurt you, but now I will have no choice._

_Genis, please, when the time comes... forgive me..._

_And please do not forget the promise you made to me. The promise that we would be together forever. Don't betray me, like everyone else has._

_Please don't betray me, Genis._

Fin

A/N: What'd you guys think? I had to write that (or my version, at least). I'm sorry if it didn't QUITE follow the script of the game, but I felt like that had to be written into a piece of fanfiction like that. It makes an adorable setting for fanart AND fanfiction both, ne?  
Okay, umm, anyway, did you like it? Love it? Hate it with a passion? Either one, let me know! Oh, and if you want me to write more G/M fics, let me know! There's not enough of them up on (I'm the only G/M author on there to my knowledge!). Since I now have time to devote to writing again, at long last, I'd be happy to write more (even of this, perhaps!)  
Until my next Shonen Ai inspiration pops into my head...  
Genis Irving


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